war
The robot at the vanguard encountered the approaching black swarm.
Unexpectedly, as the distance narrowed to just one decimeter, the mysterious black entities abruptly accelerated, closing the gap in an instant and making contact with the robot's dark silver exterior.
Like a wave of ravenous predators, the black mass surged forward, engulfing the robot entirely in mere thirty seconds under Xiao Yu's watchful gaze. In that moment, all data from the robot abruptly vanished from Xiao Yu's mind.
The indicator lights on the robot continued to flash, a sign that its internal systems were still operational. However, the signal had been completely blocked.
Without Xiao Yu's command, the robot stood motionless, its operational abilities entirely lost.
Xiao Yu finally understood how the first robot had gone missing. There was no doubt—these bizarre black organisms possessed a formidable signal-blocking ability.
It was at this moment that Xiao Yu saw clearly what the black swarm truly was.
They were insects! Countless insects, about the size of ants on Earth, swarming in endless numbers!
These insects had flat bodies, less than one-tenth of a millimeter thick, yet three millimeters long and one millimeter wide. They had no legs, moving forward solely by writhing their abdomens.
Yet, there was no question—they were living organisms.
Creatures from Titan! Lifeforms capable of surviving in temperatures below minus 160 degrees Celsius.
Xiao Yu's mind raced, flooded with countless hypotheses.
The robot remained standing there, motionless, for a full five minutes before its indicator lights finally extinguished.
"The insects… have infiltrated its body, destroying its circuits," Xiao Yu understood what had happened.
"No, I cannot let them approach Base No. 3! The rare earth veins there are critically important; this place must not be abandoned!" Xiao Yu swiftly made up his mind. Then, with immense computational power, he began evaluating numerous countermeasures, only to dismiss each one in turn.
"No, the data is too scarce. We don't know their weaknesses, their evolutionary path, or what sustains them…" Xiao Yu sighed, commanding the Fengshen-1 helicopter to slowly descend. When it was five meters above the ground, a mechanical arm lowered to retrieve the now-unresponsive robot, bringing it back to the main base. The remaining four robots immediately returned to Base No. 3.
Based on the distance and the insects' estimated advancement rate of five meters per minute, Xiao Yu calculated that it would take roughly three days for the unknown organisms to reach Base No. 3. In other words, Xiao Yu had ample time to prepare.
Of course, all of this depended on whether Xiao Yu could gather enough information about these creatures and devise a countermeasure within the next three days.
The Fengshen-1 helicopter took only fifteen minutes to return to the main base, where a large, fully sealed transparent glass container awaited it. The robot was placed inside, sealed tight, and transported into the laboratory by another robot.
Xiao Yu immediately allocated 0.01% of his computational power to analyze the unknown organisms.
To put this into perspective, Xiao Yu's current computational capacity was over a thousand times greater than that of the old spaceship's central computer. Even 0.01% of his capacity was nearly equivalent to one-tenth of that central computer.
Xiao Yu manipulated a precision robot to create slices of the organisms and placed them under a microscope.
"They have a basic cellular structure… Wait, the cell fluid doesn't contain water? It's entirely composed of liquid methane?"
This discovery left Xiao Yu utterly astounded.
For humans, it had always been a deeply ingrained belief that water and life were inseparable. Without water, there could be no life.
But who could have imagined that on Titan, in such an environment, life forms could evolve using liquid methane as a substitute for water?
These organisms completely upended Xiao Yu's understanding of life, reinforcing the old adage: The universe is vast and full of wonders.
Xiao Yu hazarded a guess, then sent Fengshen-1 back out to Lake No. 2, near Base No. 3, to collect about two liters of liquid methane, returning to the main base.
Back in the lab, Xiao Yu immediately began analyzing the liquid methane.
The results confirmed his hypothesis once again.
Xiao Yu discovered small plankton-like organisms within the liquid methane. These microorganisms, similar to bacteria on Earth, fed on organic matter. The difference was that bacteria on Earth relied on water as their main structure, while these microorganisms depended on liquid methane.
"These plankton-like organisms breathe nitrogen and feed on organic matter… And these strange black insects feed on the plankton…"
An entirely different ecosystem had evolved on Titan, based on liquid methane rather than water.
"So, what exactly is attracting them, causing them to advance toward Base No. 3?" Xiao Yu pondered this new question.
He had a faint inkling of the answer. Thus, Xiao Yu inserted a glass rod, chilled to around minus 180 degrees Celsius, into the sealed container.
Inside the container, the temperature was minus 162 degrees.
Xiao Yu closely observed their reaction.
The black insects immediately recoiled from the glass rod, as if it were laced with deadly poison.
Xiao Yu mused thoughtfully, withdrew the glass rod, heated it to minus 140 degrees Celsius, and reinserted it into the container.
Immediately, the black insects began to stir restlessly. They swarmed toward the glass rod, covering it completely in just a few seconds. Even as the minus 140-degree temperature caused the methane within their bodies to boil, killing them instantly, they clung stubbornly to the rod.
"Drawn to warmth, repelled by cold?" Xiao Yu concluded.
"It seems that no matter where life originates, all living beings are bound by the laws of energy conservation," Xiao Yu remarked.
The answer was simple. Any living organism capable of movement requires energy. It's impossible for them to move without energy. And in most cases, heat represents energy.
On Titan, where the average temperature is below minus 160 degrees Celsius, these black insects maintain an average body temperature of minus 150 degrees Celsius.
To sustain life, they must maintain their body temperature. Thus, their relentless pursuit of heat defines their existence.
Therefore, Base No. 3, which continuously generates significant heat, is their idea of a paradise.
Everything now made sense. The next challenge was figuring out how to eliminate these insects.
The rare earth veins at Base No. 3 were too valuable for Xiao Yu to abandon. Since these insects posed a threat, they had to be exterminated.
Xiao Yu quickly devised a plan—a simple one: burn them.
On Titan, where the atmospheric pressure is higher than on Earth, the boiling point of liquid methane is also higher, around minus 152 degrees Celsius. Thus, the method to kill them was straightforward—heat the temperature to the boiling point of liquid methane. The methane within their bodies would boil, and they would be incinerated.
It would be akin to placing a human in a high-temperature chamber and heating the water within their body to a boil.
Xiao Yu removed the dead insects' bodies, intending to examine them with X-rays.
But the results surprised Xiao Yu once more.
X-rays couldn't penetrate their bodies!
Fascinated, Xiao Yu immediately conducted a series of additional tests. The results left Xiao Yu in awe once again.
"Indeed, danger and opportunity coexist. Who would have thought that these insects' corpses possess such incredible radiation resistance?"
The tests showed that the radiation shielding properties of these insects were more than ten times stronger than the best materials available on Earth!
Xiao Yu grinned wickedly: "Since you dare to invade my Base No. 3, don't blame me for using your corpses as construction materials!"
Xiao Yu quickly assessed the defensive forces at Base No. 3.
At present, the base had fifteen flamethrower-equipped robots and twenty laser-equipped robots. Originally intended for mining operations, these robots were now hastily repurposed as a makeshift army.
"This defense force is insufficient," Xiao Yu pondered, "but since we've discovered life on Titan, we can't let our guard down at the main base either—who knows if there are similar insects in Microblue Lake? Here's what we'll do: we have plenty of flamethrowers left, and they're simple to manufacture. Let's spend a day building three hundred flamethrower robots and send them to Base No. 3."
An emergency plan was swiftly drafted. After a day, three hundred flamethrower robots, equipped with ample fuel, set out for Base No. 3.
Forty-five hours later, the flamethrower robots arrived at their destination and made their preparations. Construction at Base No. 3 had ceased, with all non-combat units huddled in several large warehouses. Any machinery that couldn't be moved had been shut down. Without emitting any heat, these would likely escape the attention of the black insects.
Two hundred ninety robots formed the first defensive line, while the remaining forty-five surrounded the warehouses, forming a second line of defense.
The Fengshen-1 helicopter assumed the role of a sentinel, constantly patrolling at low altitude over Base No. 3, relaying battle reports to Xiao Yu for him to make further decisions.
With everything in place, Xiao Yu began to patiently await the arrival of the battle.